


drifting

by gingergenower



Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, If You Squint - Freeform, Light Angst, Spoilers, that look she gave him at the end broke my heart lOVE HER YOU IDIOT PARKER
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-16
Updated: 2017-07-16
Packaged: 2018-12-03 03:39:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11523765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gingergenower/pseuds/gingergenower
Summary: Peter Parker isn’t special.He gnaws his pen lid until it doesn’t fit on the pen anymore, rotating through the same ten t-shirts with nerdy jokes and references and logos, and his voice carries when he talks about comic books and Star Wars and theoretical physics that could apply to the Matrix.Rolling her eyes, MJ’s book thumps on the canteen’s table and she gives up trying to read.Peter Parker isn’t special, but that doesn't stop her thinking about him.





	drifting

Peter Parker isn’t special.

He gnaws his pen lid until it doesn’t fit on the pen anymore, rotating through the same ten t-shirts with nerdy jokes and references and logos, and his voice carries when he talks about comic books and Star Wars and theoretical physics that could apply to the Matrix.

Rolling her eyes, MJ’s book thumps on the canteen’s table and she gives up trying to read.

Peter Parker isn’t special, really, but that doesn't stop her thinking about him.

They’re friends. He didn’t react when she said they were, so she’s taking it and holding it tight to her chest and he’s the only one who could take it back. He’s funny and sweet and kind and _do you know how hard it is to find a genuinely kind teenage boy_. He walked her home when decathlon ran late once, telling her she was absolutely allowed to hate him but he had to know she got home safe. 

It turns out that walking home without him to glare at, provoking him into laughing even when he’s trying hard not to, isn’t as fun.

‘MJ?’

She blinks. Peter and Ned are clambering in the seats opposite her, Peter absentmindedly grabbing Ned’s arm before he overbalances.

‘What’s up, losers?’

Grinning, Peter ignores her. ‘What’re you reading?’ he asks.

Picking at her own food, she shuts the book and pushes it towards him.

Peter pauses. ‘Isn’t that the one Emma Stone studies in that _Easy A_ movie?’

MJ shrugs.

‘It is,’ he assures her. ‘You enjoying it?’

‘Like a broken thumb.’

‘Frustrating?’

‘People are stupid,’ she shrugs, stealing on of his fries.

‘Are you still up for movie night tonight? My aunt says she’ll keep out of our way but she’ll be home.’

She’s still not really sure if they enjoy her company or if they’re not sure either. ‘Yup.’

‘Are you staying over? Because you can if you want, like I said my aunt’s going to be there the whole time, but if you don’t want to, that’s also. Um. Fine.’

’What are we watching?’ she says, stealing another fry and barely missing getting flicked by Peter’s irritated fingers.

‘We pick on the night,’ he says, sliding his tray away from her. ‘Normally there’s an argument about it, though.’

Pointing the end of Peter’s fry at Ned, MJ glares at him. ‘Don’t bother bringing Star Trek. It’s crap.’

‘Do you like Star Wars?’

‘It’s a resolve of mine to not like anything in particular. It’s passable.’

Peter grins, like he knows about her crush on John Boyega, and bounces in his seat. ‘Cool. Great. Okay.’

‘Yup.’

He starts talking to Ned before he can actually pull away from MJ. ‘Did you hear about that _Last Jedi_ announcement…?’

***

Pizza ordered and eaten, second movie playing ( _Easy A_ , because Peter couldn’t believe Ned and MJ hadn’t seen it), they’re all bundled up in blankets by ten. Ned threw himself at the armchair the second they walked in, claiming it as his own, so MJ’s on the couch with Peter.

May breezes through, nodding her approval at their film choice and kissing Peter on the cheek, telling him to keep the noise down after eleven. He just gives her a two-fingered salute and immediately turns down the tv.

Sometime around midnight, Ned starts snoring over he kind of sci fi blockbuster MJ expected from them and isn’t paying much attention to.

‘He never makes it to one,’ Peter says, voice low but grinning. ‘Always says he will, but…’

‘Sleep is important.’

‘Sleep is important,’ he agrees, not quite laughing. ‘Are you tired?’

‘I’m usually up late reading,’ she says, stretching her arms above her head and yawning.

‘Me too. I mean- not reading, I don’t read much, not like the stuff you do. But, I’m usually up late, so I can’t sleep even if I try to.’

Do you miss Liz? Do you wish I were her? Are you pretending I am?

‘Em?’

Shrugging, she turns back to the tv. Someone has his head ripped off. ‘That’s a nasty way to bite it.’

‘I’m not sure there are many nice ways.’

‘Old age. Living so long your body actually crumbles around you because humans aren’t designed to live as long as we do appeals to me.’

‘That’s…’ He’s shaking his head, grinning.

‘What?’

‘Nothing.’

When Ned’s snoring so loudly they can’t hear the movie anymore, Peter shuts it off. MJ curls up at her end of the couch and sinks lower and lower, but she’s adamantly not touching him. 

‘Thanks for coming over.’

Frowning at him, she waits.

‘You’re fun.’

Eyebrows raised, she pulls the blanket they’re sharing up to her chin. ‘You’re a dork.’

‘I’m touched,’ he says, but he can’t keep the smile off his face.

Their conversation hums in the dark. She says very little; he sniggers and outright laughs a lot. She can see his outline, turned to her as though he can see her. He seems to drift off until he asks her something else. The apartment’s cooling down, a bite in the air now it’s October, and when she nudges him with his cold feet he grabs his duvet from his bedroom and they share that instead.

Both falling in and out of sleep, she kicks her feet up on his lap and whispers goodnight- there’s a smile in his voice when he answers, but she might be just over-tired and over-hopeful.

***

She’s sure she wakes up in the middle of the night. Peter puts her feet back on his lap like he’d got up, and she shifts closer, resting her cheek on his shoulder and huffing a breath out.

‘Cold.’

His free hand makes sure the duvet’s tucked up around her. ‘Better?’

She nods, pressing in even closer. He’s so warm. ‘Mm.’

**Author's Note:**

> who the hell knew I'd actually like MJ let alone love her and dear god Tom Holland's Peter is sunshine  
> 


End file.
